Martial Cultivator

The golden light seemed to be everywhere, relentlessly striking Chen Chao’s body.

Tch...tch...

The sound continued to ring out as Chen Chao’s robes were torn in several places, as if some sharp blade had sliced through them, leaving tiny cuts on his body.

This scene appeared ordinary, but upon thinking carefully, it was somewhat terrifying. After all, Chen Chao’s physique was no ordinary Nepenthe, yet even so, he could not withstand the terrifying golden light.

The cultivator who wrote this page, what kind of powerful figure were they? This was still something Chen Chao wanted to know.

Countless beads of sweat appeared on Chen Chao’s forehead, slowly dripping down his face, and his ears began to bleed at this moment too.

At this moment, he finally saw the two characters on the page in front of him.

Blurry, but discernible after looking closely.

”Fuyun.”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, his mind suddenly exploded. A white mist rose before his eyes, and for some reason, a tall mountain pass gate made of white jade appeared before him.

The mountain pass gates seemed to be in the sea of clouds, and the characters engraved at the top of the gate read: Fuyun Sect.

Fuyun Sect?

Chen Chao furrowed his brows and looked at the three large characters, which were like silver hooks and iron paintings, yet carried a faint immortal aura. Chen Chao felt a terrifying presence currently enveloping him.

It was likely that the cultivator who wrote these three characters was not simple either. He was probably an extremely terrifying cultivator, and as for his cultivation realm, it was definitely above that of Nepenthe.

Standing in front of the mountain pass gates, Chen Chao stared at those three characters, falling into silence. A sect with such grandeur probably had no equal in the world today. In other words, this was no sect of the current world.

But if this sect had once appeared in this world, then where are its ruins now? Had it already been discovered?

Of course, the most pressing question for Chen Chao right now was: if these words indicated that the owner of this page was a cultivator from the Fuyun Sect, then why did this person’s page appear in Rongshan Sect

These should be two different sects.

Chen Chao even began to suspect that the powerful cultivator who wrote this page might be the owner of the broken saber, but between the two, Chen Chao did not sense the same aura.

These doubts left Chen Chao lost in thought.

At that moment, Chen Chao suddenly saw a tall man appear outside the mountain pass gates. The tall man wore a white robe, his appearance was not exactly handsome, but was extremely heroic. Ř𝓪ＮőＢΕs

On his white robe were faint patterns of floating clouds, giving it a very luxurious look.

Chen Chao felt a familiar aura from him, realizing that this man was the owner of the page.

The heroic man in white stood outside the mountain pass gates, not in a hurry to enter. After a while, he suddenly turned his head and smiled gently at Chen Chao, saying, “Young friend, we are fated to meet. Shall we go up the mountain and talk?”

Hearing these words, Chen Chao was momentarily stunned. He turned his head left and right, realizing there was no one else around him, and only then was he certain that the man in front of him was speaking to him.

But, how?

The scene before him should only be a trace left by the man in white, so how could this man still converse with him?

The man in white seemed to notice the confusion in Chen Chao’s eyes but did not elaborate. Instead, he just smiled and said, “Young friend, will you ascend the mountain?”

Chen Chao nodded, not hesitating. He had originally planned to investigate further.

Seeing Chen Chao nod, the man in white walked into the mountain gate. Chen Chao’s thoughts stirred, and he followed him. As soon as he entered the gate, the scene before his eyes changed abruptly. He suddenly found himself in the clouds, a straight golden path stretching into the distance, its end unknown.

On both sides of the path stood many cultivators, who respectfully called out, “Welcome back, Sect Master!”

The voice was so loud that it could be heard even in the clouds.

It turned out that the man in white was the Sect Master of the Fuyun Sect.

The man in white ignored those disciples and instead smiled, asking, “Young friend, where do you come from?”

Chen Chao replied, “Great Liang.”

The man in white paused for a moment and smiled, “It seems young friend comes from quite a distant place.”

Chen Chao said, “It should be quite a long time from now.”

The man in white smiled and said no more.

Chen Chao opened his mouth, originally having many questions. But at this moment, he did not know where to begin.

The man in white walked slowly alongside him on the golden path and smiled as he said, “Young friend, if you don’t know how to start, why not observe more? Perhaps by watching, you will find your answers.”

Chen Chao responded with a hum. However, he soon noticed something, the surrounding cultivators seemed able to see the man in white, yet they could not see him.

The two soon arrived before a grand and imposing structure. The entire building was constructed from white jade, towering high and appearing extraordinary.

Moreover, cloud-like patterns adorned it everywhere.

Such a magnificent structure was nearly impossible to find in the present age. Even the Imperial City of the Divine Capital did not have such grandeur.

Chen Chao pondered for a moment before deciding to speak. “Senior...”

But before he could finish, the expression of the man in white grew solemn as he said in a low voice, “They are here.”

Before his words had even faded, streaks of meteors flashed across the sky. Each one carried a terrifying aura, sweeping through the heavens with such an overwhelming pressure that even breathing became extremely difficult for Chen Chao.

The man in white raised his head, his expression grave.

“Senior, what is that?”

Chen Chao looked up, feeling incomparable shock.

The man in white did not answer him. Instead, he stretched out his hand toward the sky. At the same time, within the towering building before them, several figures also shot toward the sky.

For a moment, it was as if countless meteors were rising from the clouds; an awe-inspiring sight.

Chen Chao raised his head, trying to see clearly what was happening in the sky. But at that moment, a deafening roar erupted. His vision shifted abruptly, and as a cloud of white mist dispersed, he found himself back inside the bamboo house.

The page lay quietly on the table, no longer glowing, yet the characters on it had not faded, they remained clearly visible.

”I am Fuyun...”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow. He could roughly guess the rest.

It was likely something along the lines of ”I am Fuyun Sect’s Sect Master.”

Putting the page away, Chen Chao recalled the scene he had just witnessed. In the final moments, those terrifying meteors in the sky were likely the reason behind Fuyun Sect’s destruction. But if that were the case, why had this page ended up in Rongshan Sect?

Could it be that the Fuyun Sect Master had not perished within the Fuyun Sect in the end, but had died elsewhere?

Chen Chao could not quite figure it out.

Still, he was not too concerned. Many things would likely become clear once he fully uncovered the contents of the page.

Chen Chao reached out to wipe the blood from his body and sighed. While it sounded simple, in truth, even reaching the end of Nepenthe might not be enough to read everything on the page.

Only by surpassing Nepenthe, standing above Nepenthe, could he see it all.

Shaking his head, he reined in his thoughts and glanced outside the window, frowning as he noticed the sky had changed. Unbeknownst to him, an entire day had passed while he was witnessing those visions.

Feeling somewhat weary, Chen Chao stood up and stepped out of the bamboo house, only to spot two figures in the distance.

It was precisely his two disciples.

At this moment, the two youths were looking at Chen Chao pitifully.

Before Chen Chao could say anything, Yu Qingfeng spoke up with a hint of grievance, ”Master, did it really have to take an entire day?”

He Liang, on the other hand, looked completely puzzled, not understanding what his senior brother meant.

Although the two were close in age, they were vastly different. Yu Qingfeng was the young master of Divine Water Mountain Villa and had seen much of the world from a young age, giving him a much broader perspective than He Liang.

Having grown up in a small town, even if He Liang had a resilient will, he lacked the same level of cunning.

Chen Chao frowned and said, ”What do you know? Some men are simply born with extraordinary talent.”

What extraordinary talent?

He Liang was still completely lost.

Yu Qingfeng nodded in agreement. ”That’s right, Master has always been extraordinarily gifted. Don’t you think so, Little He?”

Though the two had not known each other for long, their relationship had already grown quite close, even their way of addressing each other had changed.

He Liang nodded his head in a daze. No matter what, he figured it was best to go along with his master, so he quickly added, ”Senior Brother is right.”

This boy had a little wit, but not much.

Chen Chao remained expressionless as he looked at these two annoying brats and spat out a single word: ”Scram.”

Sensing the danger, Yu Qingfeng immediately grabbed He Liang and bolted.

Watching Yu Qingfeng’s action, the corners of Chen Chao’s mouth curled slightly.

He was not worried that these two brats would accomplish nothing in the future. His only concern was that they might turn against each other one day, leading to some tragic case of fellow disciples killing one another.

Having experienced such things himself, Chen Chao did not want his disciples to go through the same.

Rubbing his head, Chen Chao returned to the window and took out brush and ink, preparing to write a letter.

……

……

The rain in the Divine Capital had stopped.

Word had already spread that the Daoist Zhenye had slaughtered civilians in the Divine Capital and killed two historians in the imperial palace. Public outrage had reached another level, but just when the people were at their angriest, several more pieces of news came one after another.

First, it was announced that Daoist Zhenye had been slain in the Imperial City. The one who killed him was none other than Chen Chao.

Then, the imperial court issued a decree proclaiming that the long-vacant position of Lord Warden Commander now had a new successor, personally appointed by the Great Liang Emperor.

The last piece of news was the simplest and most direct: after killing Daoist Zhenye, the new Lord Warden Commander personally ordered that the daoist sage’s head be hung above the city gates of the Divine Capital.

In just half a day, many citizens had already gone to see it.

Just like that, the people’s anger was quelled.

Everyone now understood that even though His Majesty had traveled far away, there was still someone in the Divine Capital just like him.

The people’s hearts were at ease.

At that moment, a young sword cultivator arrived at the Divine Capital from the outside.

As he passed by the city gate and saw the severed head hanging there, he scolded laughingly, “What sheer audacity.”